PSU Magazine Winter 1988

Read a good children's book lately? Finding a winner can be a delightful discovery. By Cynthia D. Stowell 0 nee upon a time, soon after a big world war when our country was starting to feel good again , a bumper crop of babies came along. 771eir parents, who loved them very much, read to them from Mother Goose and D1: Seuss and just about anything that said "Golden Book" on it. By and by, 1Vhen the children got a /iule older, they began to go to the library by themselves. There, a stern woman would hand 1hem mysterious and wonderful books like Charlotte's Web and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and almost anything about a horse or a dog. Soon the children had read everything on their shelf and couldn 't wait to graduate to the next shelf, where Nancy Drew and Treasure Island waited. Many years later, when the children were all grown up and had gone to col– lege and were having children of their own , they wanted to find the very best books to help shape their promising little ones. But, oh my! So many books to choose from! Over 3,700 titles published in 1987! And so liule lime to read, after long days at the office and evenings full of television' "Perhaps we should hire a consultant," said Mr. and Ms. Y one day as they stood panic-stricken in a children's bookstore. "No, no'" cried the children. "Give us the money and we'll buy what we want!" The parents groaned as their otherwise in– telligent children gathered up a stack of Smu1f books and the latest in the Sweet Valley High series. "But , darlings, what about Charlotte and Rebecca ?" asked Ms. Y gently. ' :4.nd shouldn't we find a book that will help us cope with Daddy's j ob change?" Illustration f rom ':4.nansi and the Moss- Cover Rock ," a !test African tale retold by Professor Eric Kim– mel. Reprinted with permission from Holiday House ©. "Heck, no!" said the children, who later found those books under the Chrislmas tree anyway. And the bookseller smiled , and the authors and illustrators shmpened their pencils, and the children 's book publishing industry lived happily ever after. The current boom in children's book publishing has created an unprecedented array of choices for parents, teachers, librarians and the children themselves. Visiting a children's bookstore can be both a joyous and bewildering journey into a land of bright colors, packed shelves, and unfamiliar titles. At a time when famili es have so many other activities cutting into their schedules, from double careers to 85 channels of television beamed into their homes via satellite, it is a wonder that children's literature survives. But, in fact, it is flourishing. PSU 5